It's not often that having your golf ball stolen is a good thing - but that was exactly the case for Matt Fitzpatrick after a bizarre incident at the BMW PGA Championship.
It came during the delayed first round, when thunder and lightning at Wentworth forced the tournament to be stopped for over 90 minutes.
The timing was good for Fitzpatrick, who had just hit a wayward drive into the trees off the 18th tee, leading to him having to play a provisional.
Normally, the sight of two young lads running off with his golf ball would leave a pro golfer furious, but on this occasion it helped Fitzpatrick as he carded a six-under round of 66.
As since the thieves were spotted making off with Fitzpatrick's ball, when play resumed he was able to take a penalty drop rather than use his provisional.
"Someone from the public saw two lads running into the bushes, running out with a golf ball and so they can only think it was my ball," Fitzpatrick explained.
"I made a bogey six, but if we'd had to find it, we probably wouldn't have.
"I'd then have had to play my provisional ball and it would likely have been worse. So, all in all, it was a good result.
"I'd have preferred rather than steal it, they'd chucked it back out on to the fairway."
The bogey on 18 was just the second of the day for Fitzpatrick, who also picked up eight birdies to continue his strong form heading towards the Ryder Cup.
The Englishman was on the outside looking in for the first half of the season, but has finished strong, with T4 finishes at the Open and Scottish Open in particular impressing Luke Donald and moving him up the rankings.
Six top eight finishes in his last eight tournaments heading to Wenworth mean that now he will travel to Bethpage as one of the form horses in the European set up.
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